Shozo Sasahara

Shozo Sasahara (Japanese笹 原 正 三Shozo Sasahara; born July 28, 1929 in Yamagata ) is a Japanese wrestler and former sports official. He was Olympic champion in 1956 in free style at featherweight.

Career

Shozo Sasahara grew up in Yamagata, where he attended a commercial high school. As a teenager he joined a kendo club, without achieving great success in kendo. After his high school days Sasahara worked with the U.S. Army in Japan, but in 1950 began to study at the Chuo University. There he began with the rings and developed through rigorous training at an outstanding freestyle wrestler.

In 1954, he was so far that he could be used at the World Championships in Tokyo at featherweight. Sasahara justified this confidence, for he was world champion. In the decisive battles he defeated Nikolai Musaschwili from the USSR and the Olympic champion from 1952 Bayram Sit from Turkey. 1954 won Shozo Sasahara and in the United States Championship in free style, in which he had participated as a guest in the lightweight (then to 67 kg body weight).

Sasahara also won in 1955 at the World Festival of Youth in Warsaw and the 1956 World Cup in Istanbul, where he defeated the class Ringer Enju Waltschew Dimow from Bulgaria, Sinan Salimulin from the Soviet Union and again Bayram Sit.

The climax of the career of Sasahara the 1956 Olympics were in Melbourne. He won six fights and was in superior style Olympic champion. He defeated among others For the third consecutive year Bayram Sit, Sinar Salumulin and the surprisingly reached the final pre- jetted Joseph Mewis from Belgium.

After the 1956 Olympic Games Shozo Sasahara ended his active wrestler 's career. He was first assistant coach and later the head coach at the Chuo University. One of his students was there Osamu Watanabe, of how he became Olympic champion. Later Shozo Sasahara pursued a career official, became president of the Japanese wrestler Association and Vice President of the Japanese National Olympic Committee. For his contributions to the sport wrestler he was taken in September 2006 in the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = Freestyle, Fe = featherweight, then to 62 kg body weight)